Climate Change and the Arctic

• Note: Windows Media Player is required to view to this Asset

Canadian Museum of Nature scientist Kathy Conlan has donned her diving gear in places such as Cambridge Bay and Resolute Bay to learn more about the ecosystem which flourishes under the ice of the Arctic Ocean. In this video clip, you can see a litle bit of this unique environment, which is home to plants, and a surprising diversity of animals including sea stars, anemones, urchins, snails and clams, to name but a few. The complex interactions between plants and animals here extends to larger vertebrates such as fish, seabirds and mammals, as well as to the people who live in the Arctic and have traditionally maintained a close relationship with their environment. Scientists predict that the warming Arctic climate will have profound impacts on this entire Arctic marine ecosystem.